Samsung Galaxy S9 gets super slow-mo and AR emojis

Samsung’s new flagship smartphone has a host of new camera tricks including a super-slow-motion mode that helps capture key moments of action and a new type of lens designed to work better in the dark.

One of Samsung’s messages with the new Galaxy S9 is that it’s “Built for the Way We Communicate Today.” And while that’s a laudable goal, one of the key features behind that message — AR Emoji — doesn’t feel like it connects with the way anyone communicates now, or will want to in the future. At least I hope not.

The Galaxy S9 relies entirely on conventional photos from the selfie camera rather than Apple’s complex 3D sensor array, yet attempts to produce something more ambitious and fraught with potential disaster: realistic, yet cartoonish, depictions of your own face.